Slices of Life- Zutara Week 2016
by smylealong
Summary: Seven One-Shots, some interconnected, some not. My contribution to Zutara Week 2016. Prompts include: Dragon, Reincarnation, Memories, Lilac, Fever, Coffee, Candles
1. Dragon

_Soooo, this is the first time I'm doing a Zutara Week. Originally I had planned on 7 interconnected One-Shots that would tell the canon-compliant Zutara story going back and forth in time. But that didn't happen. Some of the prompts kicked my butt so hard, it's not funny. In any case, what I do have now, are a couple of interconnected one-shots and a few stand alones._

 _A special thanks to my sister and beta, Mammai. She whupped my lazy ass into getting things done XD_

 _Presenting the first of the 7 one shots- Dragons._

 _As usual, R &R._

 _Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me. If they did, Zutara would've been canon.  
_

* * *

 **Dragons**

The eerie silence of dilapidated halls of the Western Air Temple was broken by the rhythmic snores of a ten ton flying beast. Curled comfortably atop its head was a small, winged lemur and at its feet was the slumbering Avatar. Together, they were the last vestiges of a people long gone. The Air Temple that once housed a bustling population of Airbenders was now providing shelter to a very different and unique group of people - children really.

Children who were born in strife and were forced to grow up long before their time. A twelve year old was the only hope of a world gone awry. While another twelve year old was the one to invent metal bending. A fourteen year old Waterbender had been pushed to learn blood bending while her older brother had to watch his first love die. And then there was the sixteen year old who had been abandoned by his mother, abused by his father, exiled from his nation, lied to by his sister and was now hunted by his nation's army for treason. Children, all of them. Children who had to forego their childhood way too early. Most of whom were, at that moment, peacefully asleep.

Most, save one. The fourteen year old Waterbender was thrashing in her bed, her dark skin covered with a fine sheen of sweat. She shuddered and trembled, her eyes darting rapidly behind the tightly squeezed eyelids. Whatever she was dreaming about, she was deeply troubled by it. Then, all of a sudden, the eyelids snapped open, revealing bright blue eyes that darted around in sheer terror.

Of their own accord, her feet slid down the cot and landed on the floor, her toes curling a little at the cold. But as someone brought up in the South Pole, cold was ingrained in her system and it did nothing to jar her from her daze.

Breathing in short, heavy gasps, Katara stumbled towards her door and wrenched it open. An unnamed terror consumed her as she ran down the corridor, heedless of her surroundings. Her dream still haunted her.

 _A tall mountain. A lone figure dancing to an unheard tune. Sharp, steady, powerful movements. His lithe body moving in synch with his element. He looked majestic, regal and in complete control. Suddenly the ground beneath him shook, knocking him off his feet. He stumbled and fell. Behind him a gigantic shape arose. Its eyes burning with fire, the beast looked at the human who sat there, frozen in fear. The man, who up until then looked like he was born to rule the world suddenly looked tiny and insignificant as the humongous beast reared its head. Two pairs of golden eyes, one gigantic and one mismatched in size, met each other before the latter looked away. Fear was etched in his face as he heard an ear splitting growl behind him. The Firebender only had the chance to look over his shoulder once before the dragon's flames consumed him._

The image of his crumbling to a pile of ash was seared in her brain, making her tremble even now. It made her run down the hallway, to the room that housed the Firebender. Pausing in front of the room at the end of the corridor. Taking a deep trembling breath, Katara lay a hand on the door that was unlocked. As noiselessly as she could, she pushed the door open and peered inside. There, laying on a tartan cot, his legs covered with a thin blanket, lay the Fire Nation Prince, Zuko.

Sleep made him oddly vulnerable, his face bereft of the perpetual frown. Seeing him there, peacefully sleeping, eased something in Katara's chest and eased her breath. Relief flooded through her, making her slump against the door frame.

Ever since she'd heard the outrageous tale earlier in the day of how he and Aang had danced with the dragons, a cold dread had crept up her spine, making it almost impossible to breathe.

Oddly, it wasn't Aang whose safety bothered her, as she might have thought. Instead, she had been dreading Zuko's fate, over and over again asking herself, 'what if?'. During the day, she had managed to keep up the pretense of veiled disdain for him, shooting scathing barbs at him but night had robbed her of her mask. She could no longer bury her deep seated unease under the guise of hate. Now it gnawed at her incessantly. Now it compelled her to come and see him. To reassure herself that he had indeed come back home, to her.

The last though jolted her, making her realize where she was and what she was doing.

 _What are you doing, Katara, watching the enemy sleep? Worrying about his safety? Wouldn't it have solved your problems if the dragons had burned him to a crisp?_

Something about the thought didn't sit well with her, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Suddenly angry with herself for rushing to his room and at him for making her worry, Katara straightened and walked away, neglecting to close his door.

* * *

In the room, Zuko opened his eyes, his brow crumpled in confusion. He'd woken up the moment he had heard the door creak open but something prompted him to keep his eyes shut and keep his breathing regulated. He was surprised to have recognized her tread and her faint smell. But what puzzled him even more was what she had done. What had Katara wanted? Why did she suddenly come to his room, gasping and panting, only to lean against the door frame? Why was she watching him sleep? He had half expected her to wake him up and accuse him of something absurd, like the chilly wind wafting through the Air Temple at that moment or something like that. But she had not done any of it. She merely stood there for a few minutes, and then walked away. And she hadn't even closed the door after her.

Zuko sighed as he pushed himself off the bed and closed his door. The last thought before he fell asleep was that he would never understand the workings of the Waterbender's mind.


	2. Reincarnation

_I had enjoyed writing this so much, I wanted to make a short story out of the events here. Again that didn't turn out well either. However, you do get to see the continuation of this particular story in the **Lilac** prompt. Hope you enjoy this short just as much as I loved writing it._

* * *

 **Reincarnation**

The clock tower chimed nine times.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Tamara muttered as she ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time. She referred to the piece of paper in her hand and scratched her head. Where on Earth was Lecture Hall #4?

The gigantic building of Avatar Aang Bending Academy was a labyrinth designed to confuse and Tamara was thoroughly lost and extremely late. She was supposed to have been in the Lecture Hall at least ten minutes ago, so as to attract minimal attention to herself. She was the new prey in the hostile environment after all. Blending in was the best strategy, one that was now shot to pieces.

Finally, after another five minutes of fruitless search, Tamara spotted a placard that declared 'Lecture Halls 1-5' with an arrow pointing up ahead. Heaving a sigh of relief, the Earthbender ran, skidding to a halt in front of her destination. Panting from the exertion, she knocked on the door and entered the room.

As one, seventy odd pairs of eyes swung to face her.

 _Brilliant entry!_ Tamara thought sarcastically.

"Yes?" The professor asked, looking at her expectantly.

"Uh. I... I'm Tamara... Transfer student..." Her voice tapered away upon realizing that she sounded like a mouse that had been stepped on.

"Oh," the old man said. "How nice of you to join us. Now will you take a seat, your majesty, or should we lay down the red carpet?"

Blushing to the roots of her hair, Tamara walked over to the only seat that she could see was empty, ignoring the titters of her classmates. As she began to take her several colored pens, her notebooks and her ruler, the man sitting next to her hissed.

"Quiet down already," he snapped. "Can't hear a thing over your racket."

"Well, excuse you!" Tamara shot back, glaring at him. He turned his head to glare back at her and in that moment, Tamara felt like her world tilted on its axis. Looking back at her were a pair of golden eyes that looked like they held fire. The face was sharp and angular. He was arguably the most handsome man she had seen, but that was not what caught her attention. It was this strange feeling of having seen this man before. The most unsettling part, however, was the uncanny feeling that his face was incomplete somehow. Which was odd because he had two eyes, a nose, a mouth and two ears. Technically, there was nothing missing but she couldn't shake off the feeling as if there should have been something more on his face. She must have been gaping for the man rolled his eyes and looked away. Tamara suppressed a groan and tore her eyes from his face.

* * *

Leon's hands were clutched into fists under the table, a faint tendril of smoke issuing from his hands. Something about the girl had triggered an unpleasant feeling in him, like he had taken a lightning bolt to his chest. Funnily enough, he was suddenly sure that he HAD, in fact, taken a lightning bolt to his chest. Which was odd, because he was fairly certain that he hadn't. For he'd remember something like that, right? And then, just to make things even more bizarre, the first thought that had popped in his mind upon seeing her was that her eyes were the wrong color. They should have been blue, not green.

 _What's wrong with you, Leon? Why are you thinking about what color a stranger's eyes should be?_ He asked himself.

 _Except, she's not a stranger, is she?_ another part of his mind piped up, confusing him even more.

He spent the remainder of the lecture stealing covert glances at her, studying her delicate features. Once or twice, she caught him staring, but instead of glaring at him, like she should have, she hurriedly looked away, as if she was the one caught staring.

He found his eyes going to her neck, which he thought was strangely empty, as though she should have had something there. At the base of her throat, she should have had something- like a pendant maybe, he wasn't sure. But it should have been blue, of that he was sure.

Never known for his patience, Leon couldn't wait for the lecture to be over. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. However, the moment the lecture was done, the girl...Tara? ...Tiara? ... something, just shoved her many belongings in a bag with a wide swipe and almost flew out of the lecture hall. That didn't matter though. If Leon wanted something, he was willing to go to the edge of the world to get it. And at that moment, he wanted answers. In one swift action, he grabbed his own notes and rushed after the girl, ignoring his friend, Jaq, calling after him.

He caught up with her in the corridor, where she was looking around confused, apparently lost.

"Hey you," he called out, hearing a bubble pop behind him. So Jaq had followed him, chewing his trademark bubble gum. "Wait up!"

The girl turned to look at him, her expression carefully guarded. Leon strode up to her, hearing Jaq's heavy tread behind him. "Tara, right?"

"Wrong," she said frostily. For some reason, he had a feeling that he was standing in the middle of an icy tundra. Brushing the feeling, he looked at her and said, "I'm Leon."

"So?" She asked, earning a snigger from Jaq.

Leon felt a stab of annoyance that he dismissed. "Look... I just... I want to ask you ... Um... Have we met before?"

"Smooth," Jaq said, his word distorted because of the ever present gum in his mouth.

The girl's expression faltered for a moment as she raised her right hand a little and Leon had the feeling that she had been about to touch his left eye. Something, he was startled to realize, that he would have allowed her to do. However, half way through the action, she seemed to come to her senses and dropped her hand. The guarded, distant expression was back as she said, "No, I don't think so."

Before he could stop himself, Leon shot back, "You're lying."

"Oh boy!" Jaq said unhelpfully as the girl's eyes narrowed.

"Excuse me? Where do you get off calling me a liar? You have some nerve, Mr. Jerkbender!"

"J... Jerkbender?" Leon stuttered as his friend guffawed next to him. "Why you... You peasant!"

The girl growled, stomped her foot, throwing him off his feet and making him land on his behind. "Serves you right! Arrogant Prince!"

With that she spun around and began to walk away. However, some way down, she stopped and turned to look at him. "By the way, it's not Tara, it's Tamara."

Saying so, she marched away.

"I think you still have a chance, buddy," Jaq said between peals of laughter.

Still sitting on the floor, Leon smiled.


	3. Memories

_This is really the shortest one. Canon compliant. Not much to say here, just a drabble._

* * *

 **Memories**

It's often said that at the dusk of one's life, memories become the companion. Laying on her cot, Katara found truth in the words. Age had caught up and the flickering candles next to her bed reminded her of her swiftly dwindling life energy. Time was slipping from her like grains of sand from her fingers. Tenzin had been sitting next to her for a long time, till she had shooed him away. At this point, she wanted to stay alone with her memories. Memories that were hers and hers alone. One would have thought that at this moment she would be overwhelmed by the thoughts of the man she'd spent her life with, but it wasn't so.

She was remembering a man, one who belonged to her and yet, never did. She remembered the way he smiled, a soft tilt of his lips and a gentle warmth in his golden eyes. She would always remember the feel of his lips on hers, even though they had kissed only once. Katara could still feel his calloused, warm palm on her arms and his fingers on her face, as they caressed her.

Katara only had to shut her eyes and she could see those golden orbs looking at her with immense affection. She could still hear his raspy voice whispering her name, confessing his love to her.

Katara sighed, turning her tired and dimming eyes to the candles that were burning down. Candles. Her chapped lips stretched to a tired smile. A scene floated in front of her eyes. Hundreds of small paper lanterns soaring against pitch black sky, and the two of them standing beneath them.

She remembered the soul crushing news she had received a couple of months ago that he had passed away. Somehow, ever since she'd heard the news of his death, she knew that her days were numbered too. Soon after, she fell ill and was bed ridden.

Alone, on her death bed, Katara allowed herself the luxury of taking the one name that she had carefully guarded with her silence. With the last breath that escaped her, she said his name, "Zuko."

When Kya discovered her mother's body next morning, her life had extinguished. But death had left behind a peaceful smile on the wrinkled, wizened face.


	4. Lilac

_Remember Tamara and Leon from Reincarnation? Please go back a couple of prompts, in case you need to refresh your memory. Like I said, they make a reappearance in this prompt. This was one of the prompts that gave me a real hard time. I finally had to take help from these two to get me out of trouble. Hope you enjoy this piece._

 _As usual, R &R._

* * *

 **Lilac**

"Earth calling Tamara," Roja's harsh whisper started Tamara and she gave a small jump. Sitting across the table, the Waterbender Sena giggled.

Tamara scowled at her friends and hastily looked down, fighting to keep her blush down. She couldn't help it! Whenever _he_ was around, her eyes seemed to develop a mind of their own, getting drawn to him. He did things to her, things she was completely unprepared for. Not only did he send her heart palpitating, he made her fingers go cold and quickened her breath.

It didn't help that ever since she'd met him, she had been plagued by odd dreams. Dreams that made no sense. She would often see a man, a Firebender, with a large scar on the left of his face.

Over and over she would see the scarred man lying on scorched ground, twitching while the hot, humid air was rent with maddened, agonized screams of a woman. Curiously, every time she saw this dream, the sky would be red. But the strangest bit about the whole thing was that she saw herself as a Waterbender who tried to frantically heal the injured Firebender.

Shaking her head, Tamara forced herself to focus on her work. However, she seemed to be acutely aware of him. After that first day, two weeks ago, Leon had not approached her again. And yet, Tamara couldn't stop thinking about him. He was a presence she would feel always. He was always on her mind, lingering in the periphery, waiting for the moment when he could overwhelm her. Which, much to Tamara's chagrin, was quite often.

"Love is such a complex thing," Roja sighed, earning a grimace from Tamara.

"I know," Sena added in a sing-song voice, her grey eyes dancing with amusement. And then, to Tamara's sheer mortification, the two girls began singing in hushed voices.

"Tamara and Leon sitting in the tree,

K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

First comes love…"

"Shut up already," she cried and slammed her book on the table. The loud action earned her several glares from all the other people in the library. Giving a sheepish grin at them, she buried her head lower while her friends dissolved into silent laughter.

About an hour later, the three girls stepped out of the library. Mercifully, Roja and Sena had stopped teasing her about her ridiculous crush and were now discussing a professor. They had barely made it past the corridor when someone called out.

"Tamara, wait."

She turned around to find Leon striding towards her, with Jaq trailing behind him. Leon's face was carefully neutral while Jaq's held a suppressed amusement. From the corner of her eyes, she could see her friends take a couple of steps back – far enough to give her some privacy but near enough that they could listen in. Ignoring them, she focused on the approaching Firebender. He stopped a couple of paces away from her, while Jaq lingered behind him, clearly waiting for a show.

"I… I wanted to talk to you," Leon said, his eyes looked everywhere but her.

Ignoring the loud thudding of her heart in her ears, she strove for a normal voice. "Yes?"

He dug into his pocket and pulled out a pouch. "Here," he said, handing it to her. "This is for you."

"What's this?" she asked, a confused frown on her features.

"Just something that you need," Leon said confusing her further. She blinked in confusion and looked from the pouch to him and back to the pouch. Uncertain, she upturned the pouch and a small, metal object dropped into her palm. She turned it around to find a bluish disc shaped pendant tied to a choker.

"Umm, I need a pendant?" she asked, ignoring the way her heart seemed to be doing somersaults.

"Yes," he said emphatically. "Wear it. You look incomplete otherwise."

"Excuse me?" Tamara's voice raised several notches as she heard Jaq's palm meet his face. Behind her Sena was sniggering while Roja groaned.

"What?" Leon looked surprised. "I'm not lying."

"You… you dare… how…ugh!" Tamara stomped her feet in frustration. "How dare you presume to tell me that I'm _incomplete_ somehow? What's wrong with you?"

With that she whirled around and strode away angrily. As she walked, she heard Jaq's incredulous voice asking, "Do you purposely fuck up every conversation you have with her or is it a special case?"

* * *

Later that night, alone in her room, Tamara reached into her bag and brought the pouch out. She withdrew the pendant and gently thumbed it. There was something familiar about the weight, the width, the size and the overall feel of it. It felt as though she had finally found something that she had been looking for all her life.

Struck by a sudden inspiration, she leapt from her bed and walked over to the mirror. With slow, trembling hands, she lifted the choker and strapped it around her neck. The small circular pendant sat squarely at the hollow of her neck. Under the bright light of her room, Tamara realized that the pendant wasn't bluish as she had originally thought, but a mix of blue and red – lilac, to be precise. She tied the choker and dropped her hand to admire the view. It sat on her perfectly. As if it belonged there.

"He was right," Tamara whispered. "I was incomplete."


	5. Fever

_This sort of ties into Dragons prompt. Not much else to say, for the rest is self explanatory._

 _As usual, R &R_

* * *

 **Fever**

With a small sigh, Katara leaned over and changed the wet cloth over his forehead. In front of her, Zuko lay absolutely still and barely breathing. Not for the first time, Katara wished that she had spent more time at Yugoda's healing tent, instead of scoffing her.

Fevers were not something trivial when it came to Firebenders. His body was way hotter than what Katara thought was safe for any human being. Every now and then he would let out a shuddering breath and a wisp of smoke would escape his lips. He was burning up- literally.

To make matters worse, his chest's wound was still too raw. The lighting he had taken head on (for her) was still taking its toll on him.

Immediately after the Agni Kai, by some miracle, Zuko had managed to stand up and issue some orders regarding Azula and reign in some of the chaos in his palace. But then, an hour later, he had simply and suddenly collapsed.

That had been three days ago and since then, Katara sat next to his bed, secluded in his chamber, too scared to sleep or venture out. If not for this servant girl who regularly brought her meals, Katara might have starved.

She had no idea what had happened to her friends or if Ozai was defeated or not. She had spent three days tending to the mostly unconscious Firebender.

However, Katara didn't know if his sporadic moments of consciousness were any better. He didn't seem to even register her presence during those moments, trapped in some nightmare that only he was privy to.

From his disjointed words and incoherent mumblings, Katara had gleaned that he was stuck in a loop, reliving the worst events of his life over and over again. And his worst was horrible. The things Katara learned made her want to reach out and cocoon him in her arms and break this chain of horror he was bound in.

But that was something Katara couldn't do and she was too tired to analyze why. She just knew that she couldn't and at that moment, it was reason enough.

Suddenly, golden eyes snapped open and looked directly at her. The abject fear that danced in them clenched Katara's heart. He looked at her, but somehow she knew he wasn't seeing her.

"Don't let him hurt me," he cried, his words slurred. "Please don't! Please! Save me."

Her maternal instincts overrode the feeble protest from her mind about propriety as she climbed on the bed and scooped him up in her arms. He was heavier than she had anticipated and her exhausted limbs protested. But Katara ignored that and spoke gently to him, rocking him slightly. "Shhh, it's okay. No one will hurt you now. It's over."

She repeated it over and over, chanting it like a mantra. His frenzied trembling reduced and slowly, his arms went around her. Katara gently lay his head on the pillow, with the intention of putting him back to sleep but Zuko's grip around her tightened.

"Don't leave me," he whimpered, like a scared child.

"No I won't," she promised him. She slid down and lay next to him, wrapping her arms around him. Unaware of what he was doing, Zuko pulled her closer and draped his leg on hers, enveloping her completely.

A part of Katara was aware that it was far too intimate a position and that she probably should pull back. But the bed felt so soft, so good. After three days of sitting on a chair and taking care of Zuko, with only ten minutes of naps every now and then, the bed was far too alluring and comfortable for her to resist. Before she knew it, sleep took over.

* * *

Katara turned around and pulled the blanket closer, sighing comfortably. The bed was so soft, so warm and so... so silky!

Wait!

Silky?

She slept on furs, not silk. Her eyes opened and she found herself surrounded by red.

"Good evening," a familiar, scratchy voice sounded behind her. It was close, too close. She turned around to find Zuko sitting on the bed, reading a scroll. He looked tired, had a faint shadow of stubble and his hair was unkempt. And yet, he was smiling.

"Zuko? What are you doing here?"

"My house, my room, my bed. Where else am I supposed to be?"

Katara let out a squeak and shot up on the bed. "Tui and La! I'm sleeping on your bed?"

"Have been for almost a day," he answered nonchalantly.

"Zuko! This is not funny! What if someone sees? What will people think? Oh God! This is not good!"

"Will you please calm down? No one cares. People have bigger things to worry about."

She squared him with an incredulous gaze. "Like?"

"Like celebrating the end of the war."

Katara's eyes widened. "What? The war's over? Aang won?"

Zuko nodded.

The laugh that erupted from Katara's lips sounded so alien and yet, it felt so right. Zuko's own lips stretched to a broad smile. "Wait," she said suddenly as a thought occurred. "How can you be so calm when your father died?"

"Ozai is not my father, he just happens to be the man who spawned me. My father is Uncle," Zuko answered flatly. "And Aang didn't kill Ozai, he took his bending away."

Katara could only gape.

"And before you ask, Sokka, Toph and Suki are fine too. Sokka broke a leg, which if his tales are to be believed, happened when he single handedly took a fleet of planes down, landed in the forest and had to fight off a fifty foot tall platypus bear with just a whale bone."

"Where did he get the whale bone?"

"I asked him the same," Zuko said, his lips twitching with mirth. "But apparently I was focusing on the wrong thing."

Katara rolled her eyes and giggled. "Oh Zuko! I'm so happy!"

"I know. Me too."

Laughing, Katara flung herself on him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Ow!"

Instantly she remembered his injury and pulled back. "Oh shoot! I'm so sorry! I just totally forgot."

"It's okay, I'm fine. Just a little sore."

"And your fever?"

"It broke sometime last night," he explained. "All thanks to you. Sokka has been popping in every now and then, to see if I am doing anything 'dishonorable' to his little sister. He hasn't killed me yet, thanks to Toph and Suki."

"And Aang?"

"He's passed out in the adjoining room. He fell asleep before Appa could even land here last evening. Hasn't woken up since."

"Thank you Zuko, for everything."

He shook his head. "Thank you, for believing in me."

Katara could only smile.


	6. Coffee

_Oh boy! This was insanely difficult. I-N-S-A-N-E-L-Y! I wrote at least 4 different things around this before finally chucking all my ideas out and going for a modern AU. I had to borrow a bit from real life. Katara's 'problem' is something I have myself. Oh and Toph isn't blind here._

 _you know the routine by now. You read, you review._

* * *

 **Coffee**

Katara looked into her vanity mirror yet again and gulped. Sitting next to her, Aang giggled. "You look fine, stop fidgeting already."

"I can't help it," she replied in a squeaky voice. "I'm nervous, okay."

"I understand," Aang patted her hand sympathetically as he concentrated on driving.

"Yeah," Toph drawled from the backseat. "You're only having your first date with the guy you've crushed on for four years. No pressure."

"Not helping Toph," Aang reprimanded, even though he was grinning widely.

"Who said I was trying to help?"

Katara threw a scowl at her in response but refrained from saying anything else. Much too soon for her, the white car stopped in front of the café. Both her friends flashed her wide grins and two thumbs up. She gave a nervous half-smile and slid out of the car. Trembling slightly, she stepped inside the café. Katara spotted him almost immediately. Dressed immaculately in an off-white shirt, a pair of chocolate brown pants, Zuko looked dashing as usual. Clutching her bag in an effort to calm her nerves, Katara walked over to the table where he sat engrossed in his phone. The moment he spotted her though, he put his phone away and smiled slightly.

"Hi," he said in his raspy voice that sent shivers down her spine.

With a tentative smile, Katara sat down on the chair facing him. "Hi. How're you?"

He licked his lips. "Good. How about you?"

"Yeah. Good."

And then she had no idea what to say to him. Those golden eyes unnerved her and it was all she could do to not scream and run. After a moment of awkward silence, Zuko spoke. "I took the liberty of ordering you something, because they wouldn't let me just sit here without ordering. Hope you don't mind. If you don't like what I ordered, just order something else."

Katara smiled and nodded. Moments later, a barista came in with their orders. She looked down at her order and suppressed a groan.

 _Oh no!_

"I ordered a Mocha Frappuccino for you," he said expectantly. "Hope it is okay?"

Seeing the eagerness in his eyes, Katara smiled and nodded, dismissing tinge of worry within her. She was not going to let a trivial thing ruin her first date with Zuko. And she didn't. The coffee and movie date went perfectly fine, despite Katara's niggling discomfort. She let Zuko's presence envelop her as she enjoyed her evening. And the kiss she shared with him at the end of the evening was nothing short of magical.

However, as soon as his car disappeared round the street, Katara ran upstairs and made a beeline for the toilet. She retched and with one heave, the contents of her stomach were upchucked. Groaning slightly, she got out of the bathroom and collapsed on the bed, clutching her stomach.

"How bad a kisser was he that you had to throw up?" Toph asked, casually flipping through her magazine.

"It wasn't the kiss," Katara answered from the pillow. "It was the coffee. It had milk."

Toph lowered her magazine and looked at her confused. "Why on earth would you have a coffee with milk when you're lactose intolerant?"

Katara looked up, her eyes watery. "I didn't order it! He did."

"And you drank it? Why? Why didn't you just tell him that you can't drink milk?"

"I was nervous, okay. And he looked so eager that I…" she paused, her eyes growing big. Then in one leap she headed for the bathroom. Toph shook her head as she heard her friend throw-up yet again.

"Serves you right for being a love-struck idiot," the girl mumbled as she picked up her magazine and resumed reading.


	7. Candles

_It's sure been a fun week. And what better way to end the 2016 Zutara Week than some pure fluff? So here it is, the last prompt- Candle. My original story was supposed to tie in with Memories but it was becoming too much angst. I wanted some pure fluff, plus this fun idea wouldn't let me be. And so, out went angst, in came fluff. 0 regrets._

 _You all have been great so far. I love you all. Thank you for the love and support. And now, I will shut up so you can enjoy._

* * *

 **Candle**

The candles flickered in unison as the Firebender controlling it meditated on them. So deep was his concentration that he did not hear the door open behind him. His betrothed walked in, not bothering to keep her tread light. However, lost in is meditative peace, Zuko paid her no heed as she sat a couple of feet away from him. He didn't notice how she rocked back and forth, eyeing him curiously.

"Zuko," she said in a sing-song voice. "What are you doing?"

His brow puckered into a frown, but he kept his eyes closed. In a voice that he hoped conveyed his irritation at being disturbed, he said, "Meditating."

"Why do you need candles to meditate?"

Zuko's lips pursed and his frown deepened. "I control their flames while I meditate."

"But how do you know that the flames are under your control when your eyes are closed?"

He sighed, resolutely keeping his eyes shut, despite the fact that his concentration had broken. "I can feel my element."

"So moving the candles in synchronization is the key?"

"Sort of."

"So why not keep your eyes open and watch what you're doing?"

Behind his closed eyelids, he rolled his eyes. "If I keep my eyes open, I can't clear my mind. I will get distracted."

"Clear your mind? Of what?"

"Thoughts."

He could almost visualize her blue eyes widening. "So you clear your minds of all thoughts?"

"Hmm."

"Completely?"

"Ummhmm."

"How can you not think anything?"

"Practice," he said through gritted teeth.

"So what happens when you get an itch?"

His eyes shot open and he turned to look at her, aghast. "Itch?"

"Yeah, you know when you feel the urge to scratch your back or nose or something?"

He sighed. "Katara, do you need something?"

"Oh no," she said with a shrug. "I don't need anything."

A muscle in his jaw twitched as he fixed her with a glare. "Then what was the point of disturbing me?"

Katara pouted and stood up. "I was just missing you and wanted to see you. Sorry."

With that she turned around and began to walk away. With a sigh, Zuko let go of the candles' flame and sprang up. He caught her wrist and spun her around, pinning her against himself.

"Sorry," he said gently. "Forgive me. You know how I can get."

She scowled at him and said, "Yes, Jerkbender."

He chuckled and tightened his arms around her. "Peasant."

Katara's lips drew to a smile and she wrapped her arms around him and lifted her head as he lowered his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.


End file.
